New hurricane relief volunteer opportunities announced
Help feed seniors today; lake cleanup Saturday; blanket drive ongoing
Area residents who want to help with Hurricane Sandy relief can do so in Asbury Park thanks to more volunteer opportunities announced by Joe Grillo, a city resident who has orchestrated local relief efforts since the storm hit on Monday, Oct. 28.
• Volunteers are needed to help feed senior citizens in the Philips Seaview Tower at 206 First Ave. at 4:30 p.m. today. Grillo put the call out for volunteers yesterday, as well, using social media, and had enlisted six volunteers within half an hour.
“It was nuts,” he said. “They [at Philips Seaview Tower] were really grateful, too.”
Those who want to help volunteer today can meet at the tower around 4:30 today, Grillo said.
• Lake cleanups will be held at all three lakes in town this Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Volunteers are needed. The city’s department of public works [DPW] will assist.
The perimeters of the three lakes will be cleaned, and organizers are also seeking people with small boats to help access the actual lake, Grillo said. People with pickup trucks are also needed.
“There is a lot of debris, especially around Sunset and Deal lakes, that may need heavy equipment to lift, so if somebody has a pickup truck, they could bring it and we’ll load and dispose of debris,” he said.
Volunteers are asked to bring work gloves, work boots and trash bags. Meeting points are at the corner of Bond Street and Sunset Avenue for Sunset Lake; the boat dock near 7-Eleven for Deal Lake; and the peddle boat stand on Lake Avenue at Wesley Lake.
• Café Volan on Bangs Avenue is running a blanket drive, Grillo said. Clean, lightly used blankets can be dropped off at the café. They will be taken to the Jersey Shore Rescue Mission, as well as other shelters, depending on the immediate need.
• A laundry card drive for residents in need is ongoing. Click here for a previous Sun story on it.
• Those who wish to help out in Belmar, which was heavily damaged in the storm, can go to Borough Hall at 601 Main St. in Belmar, where they will receive an assignment.
“You go there and say you want to volunteer and they’ll give you a bracelet and an assignment,” Grillo said. “It’s very efficient because they were so hard-hit … People get put to work, whether it’s sorting clothes, sorting food. Anyone could be put to good use.”
